Current Arrangement
Current arrangements for the allocation of annual leave entitlement are as follows.
| Period of Continuous Local Government Service | No of Hours (FTE) | No of Days (FTE) |
| Less than 5 years | 192.4 hours | 26 days |
| 5 years or more but less than 15 years | 222.0 hours | 30 days |
| 15 years or more but less than 20 years | 229.4 hours | 31 days |
| +1 additional day (7.4 hours) for every 5 years |
Note: All entitlement values above are for staff working on a full time basis. Part time staff receive a pro rata entitlement. Bank holiday entitlement of 8 days per year has been excluded from this review.
Review
There are currently no limits on the maximum annual leave entitlement, but evidently it would take a considerable number of years service to gain additional days. For example 30 years to accrue 33 days, 40 years to accrue 35 days. The current arrangements could be seen as age discriminatory due to the length of time it takes to accrue additional days. A review was undertaken to ensure fairness and equity.
Proposed Arrangement
The proposal is to amend the allocation of annual leave entitlement to the following:
| Period of Continuous Local Government Service | No of Hours (FTE) | No of Days (FTE) |
| Less than 5 years | 192.4 hours | 26 days |
| 5 years or more but less than 10 years | 222.0 hours | 30 days |
| 10 years or more | 244.2 hours | 33 days |
All leave entitlement will continue to be calculated on a pro-rata basis for staff who work less than full time hours.
Protection
Staff who receive an annual leave entitlement above the proposed new maximum entitlement of 33 days (due to their length of service) will be protected on this entitlement, however they will not receive any future increases. The implementation date of this proposal will be used to determine which staff will be protected.
Implementation
It is proposed that these changes will be implemented with effect from 1 February 2021.